Heart Healing Production Journal
by Ananga Sivyer
The Making Of Heart Healing
Acclaimed film score
composer Hans Zimmer (Gladiator, Oceans 11, Black Hawk Down) once said of
Dead Can Dance vocalist Lisa Gerrard “When she’s in the studio you
should keep set to record because anything wonderful can happen”.
That statement is
something I’ve reflected on repeatedly during the recording of Heart
Healing and I firmly believe it to be true of both Silvia and Pia; they
are two very different people with very different voices yet, in common,
they share the rare fact that they are each able to deliver unique,
flexible and daring vocal magic.
I am very much aware of,
and grateful for, my incredible good fortune in being able to work with
them both. There have been many occasions when during the recording of
Heart Healing when I have stood in the studio, headphones on, monitoring
levels as they speak or sing, and felt completely delighted by them.
I feel as though my task
primarily on this project has been to carefully capture, place and
preserve their voices in the various components of Heart Healing in such a
way that they can shine through and be left free and clear to convey their
charm to our listeners.
Silvia and Pia, thank you,
it has been immensely pleasurable working with you both.
From day two of the
recording of the project we agreed that the theme of this album was the
child and that we would dedicate it to our own children.
Heart Healing is
for:
Steve and Alex, Silvia’s amazing
sons and my amazing little girl, Rati.
Introduction, Reflections and Dedications
When we decided to make "HypnoDreams 2" I was immediately enthused. I had not seen or heard the scripts. I knew nothing of what was to come. The canvas was blank.
Yet Silvia and I both had a feeling of great anticipation about this project and spoke excitedly about how we couldn't wait to see what emerged. From this you might take it that there was no big planning, mind mapping, or structuring as is so often the case in other areas of our work - and you would be right. From the moment of its first mention, HypnoDreams 2 (for in that stage it didn't yet have its name) was about flow.
We set a date to record the vocals and in the days leading up to the first recording I set about clearing my desk of other work and turning my full attention to the project ahead and began collecting sounds and samples as a painter might buy paints in preparation for beginning the actual painting.
The day of recording the scripts was something else - my first hearing of them - I had no idea what sounds or music would go with them, I was merely being introduced for the first time and getting to know them. We recorded the entire set of eight HypnoDreams in one day. And there they were waiting for me when I woke up the next morning. I sat down with my copy of the script and glanced over the titles ready to make a start and see which one waved to me from the page. It was Resonance Connection - interesting I thought to start putting an album together with the 5th track on the running order. Yet in the end that's how the whole project came together - picking each track as it appealed to me at the time and trusting that somehow they would work together in their pre-arranged order and sequence when I was done.
That way, I felt, I could give each and every track my all, my full attention at each step of the recording process. This proved to be a very fluid way of working - and I remained 100% committed and enthusiastic throughout the entire project. That project, for me, represented 6 weeks of total absorption - I'm noting it here so that I can remember that there was a time in my life when I "worked" flat out for six weeks with an intense pleasure and conviction.
Heart Healing was mixed and mastered with headphone use in mind. It's fine for listening on a regular stereo system (so long as it's not the one in your car!) but, for a complete listening experience I recommend headphones.
With all best wishes for your personal Heart Healing journey,
Ananga
Ananga Sivyer
http://Ananga.net

A Technical Note:
The music for HypnoDreams 2 has been recorded in such a way that it supports and holds the state generated by Silvia's voice and words and the tracks have been carefully structured to send different sounds in different directions at certain point in the scripts.
Some tracks have a crossover panning effect while Silvia's voice is held central - this provides a musical hemispheric integration (simply put - left/right brain balancing) and whole brain listening experience which has profound effects on re-balancing the entire energy system.

Heart
Healing - Notes, Explanations & Evocations |